The assignee hereof is the owner of several U.S. patents relating to tents of one type or another. Some are for highly specialized applications like, for example, its van tent forming the subject matter of U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,809 and what is primarily an aerial tent shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,354. Four other U.S. patents, specifically U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,810,482, 3,941,140, 4,026,312, and 4,077,417 are all directed to ground tents of more or less general application. In addition, assignee owns U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,748, the subject matter of which is confined to the hub assembly at the center of the subframes used in tents of this general type.
All of these patents have in common a centrally-located hub from which radiate three or more struts which combine to form a foldable subframe. Two or more of these subframes are connected to one another and to the skin covering same to produce a unitary foldable tent structure. They also have in common the fact that the frame is always inside the skin and when folded the hubs come together with the portion of the skin covered thereby folding inside the resulting strut package. While the hubs function very well, are lightweight and very sturdy, they are expensive and labor intensive to manufacture, which fact prices the tent above the recreation tent market where, foreign competition sets the tone of the industry because of cheap labor.
Completely apart from the cost problem is the fact that constructing a serviceable recreation tent with an inside frame has presented a number of problems, especially where there is a need for a so-called "fly", that are not easily solved, at least not economically.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention has to do with an improved ground tent having an external foldable frame incorporating a novel and much simpler hub and strut subassembly in the subframes. The resulting tent is ideally suited for recreational use and the addition of external fly sections covering both sidewalls and the subframes supporting the latter presents no problem whatsoever.
2. Description of the Related Art
No more pertinent prior art is known to applicant than those U.S. patents listed above, particularly U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,810,482, 3,941,140, 4,026,312, and 4,077,417, all of which relate to ground tents that are well-suited for recreational use. As previously noted in each prior art instance the frame is inside the weatherproof skin, the hub construction is entirely different and, for all practical purposes, no wall-covering fly is used although the '417 patent has a small fly used primarily for ventilation. It is in this latter patent that the closest prior art is found.